Even to Gedren, the Third Young Lord looked like he would cause trouble at any moment. He was worried something might happen, and as expected, it did.
He’d had a bad feeling since waking up that morning. Even when they were having breakfast together, the Third Young Lord was more excited than usual.
It was such a slight difference that others wouldn’t have noticed, but Gedren felt it clearly.
It was something only possible for Gedren, whose instincts were abnormally developed from the start.
When he came back again at lunchtime, the Third Young Lord was gone, with only a note left behind.
“Hmph…”
—Looks like it’ll take up to ten days. I found some rare materials.
It was a very short note. But the content was clear. It meant the Young Lord could be missing for up to ten days!
“Ah, good grief…”
His head throbbed. The Third Young Lord was always difficult to catch, even if you noticed his intentions from the start.
‘Why does everyone say she’s weak…’
Though he used magic, the Third Young Lord’s footwork was beyond the ordinary.
On the first day, the way he disappeared as soon as they arrived was so fast that even Gedren, with all his perception, had a hard time noticing it.
Even for someone as sharp as him, it was almost impossible to catch. Now the Young Lord had disappeared without a trace. Realistically, there was nothing he could do.
“There’s no way to find him…”
There was no way.
He might have been able to find him by asking the village Bailiff for help. The Bailiff was more capable than most nobles, talented in a different sense. The problem was—
“The Young Lord’s not to his liking, so he wouldn’t help. Tsk…”
For some reason, the Bailiff was fond of the Third Young Lord. He only met him once, yet favored him more than the First Young Lord.
The Bailiff of the Village of Villad rarely took a liking to people. The fact that he showed favor at all was a rare occurrence.
‘The Third Young Lord is… definitely charming. Hmm.’
He could understand. Spending time together, one could feel a certain charm from the Third Young Lord that was hard to find in other nobles. He had a way of drawing people in.
Even just standing still, he exuded a warmth. Yet when it came to work, he was thoroughly, even ruthlessly, meticulous—regardless of age. He had conviction, too.
It would be a lie to say he hadn’t felt drawn to the Third Young Lord. There was a reason why the administrator Myuron and the knight Benson followed him.
The problem was—
Well, I suppose I’m the same… Hah. But that’s not the issue right now. What to do?’
The problem was that the Third Young Lord had disappeared.
There was no way to find him. Asking the Count for help was also impossible, since the distance was too great.
“What a mess…”
Still, he wasn’t worried.
The Third Young Lord had returned safely after a previous journey.
Besides, his martial prowess wasn’t shallow. Though known as a mage with a weak constitution, Gedren had a feeling he would manage just fine.
Even so, he had to at least make it look like he was searching. He would have to file a report, after all.
“Erdun! Sipri!”
“Yes!”
Reluctantly, Gedren called out loudly for the knights.
He had to at least pretend to search.
‘By now, things must be in an uproar.’
They’d probably be searching the Village of Villad for him.
But by that time, I was already far away. I had left before noon with the party, heading straight for the Dungeon.
The Natural Dungeon was surrounded on all sides by earth. Since it was a naturally formed Dungeon created by gathering monsters, it had several entrances.
Of them, I came to the third-largest entrance of this Dungeon.
The moment we arrived, monsters greeted us.
“Over there! Goblin!”
“Kieeek!”
Sian, the only woman in the party, had sharp senses. Even though Goblins are low-class monsters, they’re skilled at hiding, but she found them immediately.
Gajei reacted just as quickly.
“Block them!”
Thud—
The moment he raised his shield, the raging Goblin’s attack was blocked.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
“Huup. Whew…”
Though his breath wavered from the tension of battle, he didn’t let a single attack through.
“Here I go!”
Whoosh! Thud! Hodden skillfully took advantage of the gap Gajei created, thrusting his sword fiercely into the stiffened Goblin. Crack! As the enormous greatsword struck, the Goblins let out shrill cries and fell.
A solid offensive power.
‘Their teamwork is impressive.’
Without me needing to step in, they easily took care of the low-class Goblins.
At this rate, we’d soon take care of the rest as well. Even so, the party knew how to conserve their strength.
“Hey! Ray! Give us a hand!”
They called out for help, using the name I’d given as an alias. Good timing. They knew exactly when to call for the mage.
I didn’t hold back, pouring out magic.
“Fire Arrow!!”
Sssss—Boom! Boom! Bang! The spell exploded. Each shot blew up a Goblin’s head.
“Not the head! We need to collect the Magic Stones! Huff… huff…”
“otot.”
They had a wide field of view. Maybe a bonus point for survival skills. Gajei was worried about the Magic Stones being lost every time I blew a head off.
“Magic Stones don’t drop as often as you’d think.”
“But you never know. Ugh. Block it!”
“Alright. Then I’ll aim for the heart. Magic Missile.”
Sssssh—Crack!
“Kieeeek!”
The Magic Missile struck straight into the heart, blowing it apart.
“Great! That’s the way!”
“Nice!”
Finally, the three of them had satisfied expressions. Even in the middle of battle, worrying about money, I could see just how tough their lives must have been.
Still, their teamwork was good.
“Behind you!”
“I see it.”
They even spotted the Goblin sneaking up behind me.
“Watch out!”
“As if I’d let it!”
No sword needed. A hand toughened by the Six Thunder Method was enough. With my hand shaped like a knife, I drove it straight into the heart of the Goblin coming from behind. Thud—the sensation of my hand piercing Goblin hide was unmistakable.
“Guh…”
When I pulled my hand out, the Goblin fell to the ground, gushing blood.
“Huh?”
Sian wore a dazed expression, as if the scene felt unreal.
“You should watch your back, too.”
“Eek! Kyaa!”
Bang—
A brief moment of chaos. Amid the surprise, the first battle continued.
Unlike the entrance we came to on the first day, this one had far more monsters. Goblin packs rushed us from the entrance, and before long, we had to fight two more battles.
‘I heard this Dungeon had already been cleared once, but it’s still full of monsters.’
Goblins weren’t much trouble. The last one, a Bloodsucker Goblin, was a bit stronger, but that was all. Monsters that could survive having their hearts pierced were rare.
“A Magic Stone!”
“Oooh! As expected, the Bloodsucker Goblin!”
What interested me were these three.
Their teamwork was better than I thought. They had a wide field of view, and lots of combat experience. Where their skills lacked, they protected and covered for each other.
All three had talent for moving as a team. Individually weak, but strong together.
‘There were plenty like that in the Murim, too.’
Even back in Murim, where Jegal Hyeon lived, there were people like this. Three would gather and call themselves the Three Heroes, five would call themselves the Five Fiends.
They gathered because it was hard to become strong alone. Together, they were powerful. They covered each other’s weaknesses, and their combination techniques were so formidable, even peak experts had trouble handling them.
People in stories might have looked down on such types, but in reality, they were the scariest of all. Because they were so practical, if those types turned to evil, cleaning up their messes was nearly impossible.
‘The Six Demon Rogues were like that too…’
There were those who hid in the Jegal Clan’s territory, moving as a group of six siblings. Even Jegal Hyeon, famed throughout the land, had a hard time hunting them down.
The eldest used anti-tracking techniques to block pursuit, the second spread poison to weaken the pursuers, the third set up Jinbeop, the fourth and fifth had excellent martial power, and the youngest—
‘He was insane.’
Even now, thinking about it gives me chills. That guy was a complete lunatic, relentless to the point of madness. Facing a madman was bad enough, but this one was also skilled in Mugong.
Dozens of martial artists from the Jegal Clan were injured trying to catch them.
They were finally captured and dealt with, but the loss still stung.
That’s how strong people became when they banded together.
And I could see that same potential in these three.
‘If I teach them some combination techniques… Gajei with external arts, Sian with hidden weapons… hmm, Hodden can learn swordsmanship.’
If I hadn’t known, I wouldn’t have cared. But when I see people with talent, I want them.
‘Since I’m putting my plan into action, it would be good to have witnesses. Hmm… what should I do?’
Should I recruit them? Would it be safer to just let them go? But I’m tempted. Guess I’ll try to recruit them.
As I pondered and watched—
“Uhm… doesn’t it feel really chilly in here?”
“I feel it too. What’s going on?”
“Isn’t it just because it’s a Dungeon? But it’s worse than usual today…”
Whether they had good intuition or not, their actions were similar. Seeing this, I made up my mind.
‘Since I have the chance, I’ll take them.’
Whether they realized it or not, the three of them moved forward with ruthless efficiency.
“Kieeeek!”
Thud—
There was just one more skirmish. After that, perhaps wary, the Goblins didn’t appear again. Instead—
Instead.
“It’s complicated in here.”
“We had a hard time too, you know. But we remembered the path well.”
“Don’t lie, Hodden. I was the one who remembered.”
“I know, Sian. So go on and lead.”
“Tch. Fine.”
A maze-like, twisting path awaited us instead of monsters.
‘How fiendish.’
It was a completely natural labyrinth.
Drawn by thick magic, monsters came to this Natural Dungeon, leaving traces everywhere—big burrows used as lairs, small tunnels used as paths, routes for small monsters, and even large caves for huge monsters to rest.
The paths had no rules and twisted in all directions, with many dead ends. Even so, Sian led us forward with confidence.
‘The magic grows thicker as we go. Interesting.’
Following her lead, the scent of magic grew stronger the deeper we went. If the Dungeon the party was searching for was in a place thick with magic, it meant we were heading the right way.
With no map, and only her mind to guide us, she led the way well.
‘She’s got talent.’
It meant she had a talent for finding her way or was exceptionally smart. Judging by how she spotted monsters first, her senses were keen.
‘The more I see, the more I want them.’
Brrrrr.
“Why is it so cold? Seriously…”
Whether she knew my thoughts or not, Sian stayed focused and led the group forward. Eventually, we reached a pile of dirt that looked like it had been disturbed—matching the description perfectly.
“This the place?”
“Yeah. Now, let’s see. Like this… Hmm. That’s not it. No, like this… That’s not right either? What is it?”
“I think it’s supposed to go like this.”
“Hey! If you touch it wrong, something bad could happen!”
Right at the end, they were at a loss. That’s when I stepped forward.
‘This is the pattern. Just like a Jinbeop.’
Feeling the dense magic, I stepped up and moved my hand in the right pattern.
Click. Rumble—With a perfectly timed sound, the pile of earth began to shift.